It targets total fishery production output of 6.85 million tonnes for the whole year, including 3.05 million tonnes of sea catch and 3.8 million tonnes from aquaculture, said Nguyen Ngoc Oai, deputy head of the agency at a recent conference.Vietnam’s export turnover of aquatic products reached 7 billion USD in 2016, an increase of 6.6 percent over 2015, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. According to the Directorate of Fisheries, in the first half of this year, drought and saltwater intrusion in south central provinces and the Mekong Delta region, as well as the maritime environmental incident in four central provinces have caused severe impacts on aquaculture and seafood catching. However, thanks to the drastic instructions of administrations at all levels, the sector saw improvements in the second half.
In 2016, the total output of aquatic products exceeded 6.7 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 2.5 percent. It included 3.1 million tonnes from fishing, and 3.6 million tonnes from aquaculture, up 1.7 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. The total farming area reached 1.3 million hectares. In 2016, the total area of tra farming was 5,050 hectares, producing 1.15 million tonnes, fulfilling the annual target. Meanwhile, the tilapia breeding area was 25,000 hectares, churning out 200,000 tonnes. The major importers of the product were the US, Spain and Colombia.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the tilapia export value hit 45 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 32 percent. MARD Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam held that in order to fulfil the goal, the fisheries sector should focus on better exploiting the country’s advantages in aquatic farming.
He noted that currently, the country has about 700,000 hectares of brackish water shrimp farm area, including 95,000 hectares of industrial shrimp farms and more than 600,000 hectares of extensive farms with low productivity. Therefore, it is possible to raise the production, the deputy minister said while stressing the need to better control diseases and expand market.
For tra fish, a key export staple, Deputy Minister Tam said attention should be focused on tackling market barriers in import countries and on building a strategy for developing national product of catfish, creating high quality products with strong trademark. Tam also highlighted the need to create a breakthrough in tra fish consumption in the potential domestic market with 90 million people. He revealed that the ministry will organise a large-scale trade fair specializing in tra fish in Hanoi in 2017.
According to the Directorate of Fisheries, in 2016, seafood exports fetched about 7 billion USD. Total aquatic production output of the country reached over 6.7 million tonnes, including 3.1 million tonnes of sea catch and more than 3.6 million tonnes of farmed products. Total water surface area for aquaculture was 1.3 million hectares.
In 2017, the sector strives to produce 6.85 million tonnes, including 3.05 million tonnes from fishing and 3.8 million tonnes from farming, and earn 7.3 billion USD from exports.
